Monday, May 2, 2011

Let’s Move!is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. (-from www.letsmove.gov)

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. If that sounds simple, it is, and that’s part of the beauty of the walking school bus. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers. (-from www.walkingschoolbus.org)

Earth has 6.8 billion people. About 5 billion have cellphones and 365 million have computers!

Student Cell phone Stats

With boom of smartphones and social networking sites, these numbers are quickly rising!

Even elementary teachers are being affected by this cell phone love affair.

More than 1/3 of children own a cell phone by the time they are eight years old.

Observations

“It’s a popularity contest,” Abernathy said. “And it really increases the amount of gossip.” Abernathy is among many teachers who are feeling the harmful affect that these cell phones have on the classroom environment.

The increasingly younger ages of cell phone users could also impact their social development, according to a recent study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University. Technology use leads to small but significant increases in loneliness and a decline in overall psychological wellbeing.

According to a Texting Study conducted at the University of New Hampshire...

According to the study, business students text in class more than other students and women are more likely than men to text during class.

Texting impairs comprehension of the material, which is consistent with the findings that people rely on inflexible memory systems while multitasking, which can impair learning, and that people lose time when switching from one task to another, especially when the tasks are complex or unfamiliar.

Student Laptop Stats

Professors are beginning to ban laptop use in classrooms. Laptop distraction has become so serious you can find videos online of instructors confiscating students' laptops to destroy them in front of the class!

Observations

Like cell phones, students are absorbed in their computers with the help of social networking sites, online videos, instant messaging, etc.

Laptops during class not only distracts those using them, but neighboring students as well with their glowing monitors, and tapping of keys.

Laptop study conducted by Winona State University

students in two large lecture halls were observed

Results:

Students who used laptops during class had GPAs 5% lower than their classmates who did not

What to do

"Be where the students are" and incorporate laptops and cell phones into the class curriculum.

Coaches have been using cell phones for spreading the word about practices and/or cancellations.

Many teachers are taking advantage of the students having laptops and cell phones by keeping updated lists of assignments on the Internet, allowing students to check homework or test dates.

Prakash Nair, RA, REFP refers to computers in the classroom as "digital teaching assistants." One of the most important benefits of having these assistants alongside your teaching is it frees up the teacher to spend more time with particular students for help as needed, when needed, without concern that learning in the rest of the class will come to an abrupt halt.

Teachers may ask students to search for additional information that would only come through experience or knowledge they lack.

Another innovative way to use cell phones in the classroom is to create an online, interactive poll.

Kirst, S. (2010, September 8). 75 percent of U.S. teens have cell phones: What are they doing with them?. Post-Standard Columnist Sean Kirst's Blog. syracuse.com. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/09/75_percent_of_us_teens_have_ce.html

But, there is more that schools need to do beyond sex education. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, disengagement, failure and dropping out of school are principal predictors of teen pregnancy.

The Campaign, along with the US Dept of Health and Human Services suggests the following five strategies in their manual, Get Organized: A Guide to Preventing Teen Pregnancy, that schools can engaged in to decrease unplanned pregnancies:

Promoting educational success and providing an enhanced sense that life holds positive optionsSchools and communities must formulate powerful strategies for those young people who live on the margins, who are unsuccessful in school, who do not have nurturing families, and who live in disadvantaged communities. These very high-risk young people must be convinced that delaying parenthood will have benefits, and that not having a baby will improve their chances in life. (p. 78)

Helping youth create and maintain strong connections to parents and other adults Some parents have great difficulty communicating with their own children, not just about sex, but about many issues. School personnel, such as teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, school nurses, and other support staff, can play a significant role in helping to fill this gap (p. 80)

Providing knowledge, reinforcing positive social norms, and enhancing social skills through various types of abstinence or sex educationYoung people need the knowledge and skills to make responsible decisions about whether and when to initiate sex, with whom, and under what circumstances. Schools are one of the places where they can receive this information and guidance, supplementing what parents, faith communities, and others teach.

Offering contraceptive services (either in school or nearby) or making referrals for themSome schools have chosen to provide direct access to contraception to prevent early pregnancy and STDs. Traditionally, schools are not expected to provide reproductive health care to teenagers, and most school systems do not (p.68)

Carrying out multiple approaches through school/community partnershipsRecognition is growing within schools and community agencies that partnerships that include schools can go even farther to strengthen initiatives to help children and families. (p. 87)

What type of program could you initiate the supports one of these strategies?

- Schools typically put the greatest emphasis on condom use. Most schools offer minimal information regarding hormonal contraceptive options and with too great an emphasis on their negative side effects. Schools should try for more in-depth information on hormonal option.

- Teaching about absitinence and contraception is not incompatible and should both be presented in a comprehensive program.

- Teens are increasingly turning to the internet for information on sex, so schools should be pro-active in providing students with reliable sources.